Will Spring finally make its debut in Eastern Ontario?

Most of us have gotten quite familiar with this upper-level pattern over Eastern Canada for the past few weeks. The relentless surge of cold air from the North broke previous cold temperature records in Southern Ontario last week. On the other hand, our friends in the West have been breaking daytime high temperatures, some of which were above 20 degrees C.

Courtesy Meteocentre

Good news is, the upper-level flow or jet stream as we say, will begin to change and will bring about milder spring-like temperatures over the course of this week. A slack in the upper-level flow will result in a more zonal flow (West to East flow), causing the cold air to remain over Northern Canada.

Near the end of the week, a ridge will develop over Eastern Canada and with it will come plenty of sunshine and milder temperatures.

Below is the the GFS and Canadian GEM Global models showing the amplified upper-level pattern over Eastern Canada for Friday April 15th. You'll notice that it's the flip opposite to what we've been dealing with over the past week. This also means cooler temperatures for folks in the West due to a trough, who have been recently basking in the sun and enjoying the warmth over the course of last week.

So of course now we ask ourselves: How warm will the temperatures be in Eastern Ontario? These are the projected temperatures for the city of Ottawa, and you'll notice the spikes in the daytime high temperatures by this weekend. Once again I'm only looking at two models here, the GFS and the Canadian GEM Global, so there will still be some variability in temperatures before we reach the weekend.

The Weather Network's forecast for Ottawa, Ontario is also on board and calls for plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures for the second half of the week. So go out and enjoy!

-------------------------------- Update April 13, 2016 ---------------------------

All this talk about an Omega Block taking shape at the end of the week is big news for everyone who has been recently hiding inside from the cold temperatures in Southern Ontario. Below is the upper- level flow this weekend, and a typical Omega Block setup with a large ridge of high pressure in the middle surrounded by areas of low pressure in the troughs located on either side. 

Once again this is The Weather Network's outlook for Ottawa, Ontario, and the rest of the week looks  fabulous. So for those who love plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures, enjoy it while it lasts!